Thursday, March 31, 2016

Slut Shaming

When I sat down to write this blog I knew right away that I wanted to touch on the subject of slut shaming. Slut shaming is something that I have felt very strongly about for a while now. Nothing infuriates me more than a woman being shamed and degraded for merely living her life the way she so pleases. I get especially perturbed when what a woman is being shamed about is something that men can do and get praised for. For example, usually a guy who is known to hook up with a lot of girls is seen a "cool" or "the man" by his friends, however, if a girl is known to hook up with many different guys then she is simply just known as a slut. Like why? I'm not saying I agree with hookup culture, or the idea of sleeping around, but there should be no double standard. If a guy gets praised for doing something why does a girl get shamed for participating in the same action?

Before writing this blog post I typed "slut shaming" into YouTube and found a social experiment that someone had conducted over slut shaming. Basically a girl dressed in tight pants, heels, and a tight crop top stood on a street and awaited a passerby to make some type of comment. The video only shows two encounters she had with two very vocal men who definitely had some comments to make over her choice of clothing and assumed lifestyle.

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After watching this video, another video came to mind. I remember watching this video called "Dear Daddy, I will be called a whore," which is a strong message by a daughter who asks her father to protect her from the slut shaming she will endure as she struggles with puberty and adolescence. This video brings awareness to a lot of issues growing young women will face. One incident the daughter brings up is in middle school when boys call her a whore for wearing short skirts, because they like to look up her skirt. The daughter even brings up when she was sexually assaulted by a guy who said she was asking for it, because he assumed she could never say no to sex. This video nearly brought me to tear, because it is very moving in its powerful message to get parents, especially fathers to stand up for their daughters in accepting their female sexuality and protecting them from the sexual shaming they may face for embracing their sexuality. The video definitely relates to the social experiment. The daughter is criticized for wearing a short skirt and the woman in the social experiment is shamed for wearing tight clothing. It amazes me that women are not allowed to showcase their beautiful bodies! It's like we have to be borderline somewhere in between being classy, yet also showing a little skin just to leave enough to the imagination. When I get of this, I think of that saying, "Be a lady in the street, but a freak in the sheets." A prime example that would refute this saying would be advocate against sexual shaming, Amber Rose. She dresses very provocatively and she is not ashamed to show off her body. She definitely gets a lot of backlash from society, but she is advocating for female sexuality. She is honestly an inspiration to me, because when I go out with friends, I know guys may get the wrong impression of me, but I am not ashamed of the way I dress because I like what I am wearing.

Here is the link to the video:http://www.newsner.com/en/2015/12/a-daughters-words-is-moving-millions-dear-dad-i-will-be-called-a-whore/